It's that time of year to start thinking about planning a vacation, but you better think twice before paying for it with your credit card! Leanna Haakons, Founder of Black Hawk Financial, and Author of "Young, Fun and Financially Free" joins Your Cheddar to discuss how credit card debt can impact your life and where to find vacations for a discount.
Haakons explains that credit cards are a great tool to build your credit, collect points, and more...but only if you're paying off the entire balance every month. Once you get stuck with a high balance, interest rates accumulate daily and it's a hard hole to get out of. A great tip from Haakons is to set up a "set it and forget it" account to save up for vacations down the line.
So how can you have fun without breaking the bank? Haakons suggests following local bloggers who track flights and vacation packages out of your local airport. Or, you could download a coupon finder, like Honey, onto your internet browser to automatically search for discounts on any website you browse.
An independent watchdog within the IRS reports that while taxpayer services have vastly improved, the agency is still too slow to resolve identity theft cases. And National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins says those delays are “unconscionable.” Erin M. Collins said in the report released Wednesday that overall the 2024 filing season went smoothly, though IRS delays in resolving identity theft victim assistance cases are worsening. It took nearly 19 months to resolve self-reported identity theft cases as of January, and Wednesday's report states that now it takes 22 months to resolve these cases.
Amazon.com Inc. surpassed $2 trillion in market value for the first time in afternoon trading on Wednesday. The push higher for Amazon’s stock market valuation comes a little more than a week after Nvidia hit $3 trillion and briefly became the most valuable company on Wall Street. Nvidia’s chips are used to power many AI application and its valuation has soared as a result. Amazon has also been making big investments in AI as global interest has grown in the technology. Most of the company’s focus has been on business-focused products.
Climate change doesn’t just mean more extreme weather – it also leads to billions of dollars in lost productivity, tourism, and stresses infrastructure.
It’s an annual tradition: the Fed’s banking ‘stress test.’ A year after the regional banking crisis, there are good reasons to make sure they’re prepped.
Summer is upon us, which means weddings, trips overseas, and trips to see Taylor Swift. Avoid a “Cruel Summer” with these budget-friendly tips and tricks.
